The Russian Chemical Technical University has figured out how to generate electricity from the excess heat of batteries

MOSCOW , December 1Russian scientists have figured out how to use the excess heat generated in production to generate electricity; now they are working to reduce the cost of this technology and adapt it to practical use, the press service of the institute reported.
“RHTU is actively developing the concept of using waste heat as an energy source based on flow batteries: the university is developing electrochemical devices for generating electricity from various types of industrial waste: work in this area is carried out by specialists from the laboratory of Electroactive Materials and Chemical Current Sources,” it says in the message.
As Pavel Loktionov, an assistant at this laboratory, explained, such devices are rarely used in production due to their low efficiency. He clarified that university specialists are studying several approaches to recovery — converting “waste” energy into electricity. However, the priority is to create a flow battery capable of converting lost thermal energy into electricity.

Such a battery is an electrochemical heat engine that can operate from heat sources with temperatures up to 100 degrees. The main difficulty in recovering such low-potential energy is associated with its dissipation and low temperature.

RKhTU scientists believe that one of the most promising approaches may be the use of thermoelectrochemical flow batteries. It is assumed that the battery cells first heat up and then cool down. Closed in a circuit, such cells form a current source, the voltage in which depends on the temperature difference between the hot and cold cells, as well as on the electrolyte used. So far, poorly soluble electrolytes, with which batteries demonstrate the best performance, are too expensive.

Together with colleagues from the Federal Research Center for Problems of Chemical Physics and Medical Chemistry of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Russian Chemical Technology University proposed an alternative scheme — a neutralization flow battery with cheap electrolytes — acids, salts and alkalis that are highly soluble in water. It is noted that the prototype demonstrated not only outstanding values ​​of power generated, but also high efficiency.
«Unlike analogues, the battery we developed can use electrolytes of much higher concentration, and with them we were able to achieve high power and heat recovery efficiency. Moreover, according to our estimates of the results obtained, with further optimization of the operating conditions of the system, it is possible to achieve record power during recovery,” the press service quotes Loktionov as saying.

He noted that preparations are now underway for further tests, which will take place “in more realistic conditions.”
In the future, according to the university, such devices can be used in production areas where heat waste is directly generated. For example, they can be used to recover excess heat from solar panels.